This was published 7 years ago
Dylann Roof explains Charleston shooting in videotaped confession
By Alan Blinder and Kevin Sack
Charleston, SC: In an interview last year with FBI agents, Dylann Roof admitted to opening fire at a prominent black church in Charleston "because somebody had to do something" about crime by African-Americans, and he appeared stunned to learn that his rampage had left nine people dead.
"I went to that church in Charleston, and, you know, I did it," Roof told two FBI officials in an interview that was videotaped in June 2015 and viewed by jurors on Friday, the third day of his federal death penalty trial.
Roof's defence lawyers have long acknowledged his guilt in the killings at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church -- the Justice Department rejected an offer for him to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison -- but Friday marked the first time that jurors were able to hear Roof elaborate on the massacre and his motives.
"What I did is so minuscule to what they're doing to white people, every day, all the time," Roof told the agents in a conference room in Shelby, North Carolina, where he was arrested the morning after the killings.
Dylann Roof the shooter who killed nine people at a South Carolina church. Credit: AP
During the lengthy interview, Roof, now 22, leaned forward in a rolling chair, chatting with the agents and sometimes laughing. He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, often eagerly answering the agents' questions and describing his planning for the attack.
But Roof, who said he became interested in white supremacy after the controversy that surrounded the death of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in Florida in February 2012, appeared dumbfounded when an agent told him that nine people had died.
"There weren't even nine people there," said Roof, who had previously estimated that he had shot five people.
As the video played on Friday, Roof sat in his chair at the defence table, expressionless. He sometimes shuffled papers, but, as has been his custom in the courtroom, he avoided looking toward the jury.
Homeland Security patrol the streets outside the Federal Courthouse in Charleston, South Carolina.Credit: AP
Although Roof repeatedly declared that he had felt a need to kill black people - he chose Emanuel after doing internet research and said that he had considered an attack on a "black festival"- there were also moments during the interview when he appeared somewhat regretful.
"I wouldn't say I'm glad I did it," he told the agents, "but I've done it."
New York Times